Sneaky Stabby: Mark Of The Ninja Officially Steam-Bound

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Remember that moment in Batman: Arkham [Batplace] when you figured out you could perch atop a gargoyle and just mess with people? Confuse them, terrify them, boil them, mash them, stick them in a stew, etc? Well, Mark of the Ninja‘s a lot like that, except with more weapons of mass distraction and in 2D. Also, there are swords. It is, in other words, among the better stealth games to skulk out of the shadows in a long while, and – as many suspected – it’s officially headed to PC. Details on when, where, and what that suspicious sound you just heard was are after the break.

Steam! Mark of the Ninja will be leaving its mark on Steam, and its mark just so happens to be a videogame. Having dealt with a variety of other ninjas, I’m fairly thankful for that. It’ll be out on October 16th for $14.99.

Encouragingly, Klei seems very dedicated to doing this port up in proper fashion. Lead designer Nels Anderson told me that Klei’s currently tweaking mouse-and-keyboard controls until they’re just so, and he also noted that Games For Windows Live absolutely, positively won’t be involved in any way, shape, or form.

“I’m primarily a PC person myself, and I’m not okay in any way with this feeling like a shoddy port,” said Anderson. “It’s my intention that this is a full, proper version of the game in its own right.”

I’ll be speaking with Anderson at length a bit later this week, and I’ve gotten some hands-on time with an early build, so expect tons more soon.

Oh, right, the weird sound you heard earlier. Yeah, it was absolutely a ninja. You’re dead now. Sorry about that.

Your comment is a valuable addition to the intelligent discussion in this thread, and I thank you.

Back to the topic: Mark of the Ninja is very, very good. I’ve been playing and replaying it rather compulsively all week on the 360. Its levels aren’t *quite* freeform enough for my tastes, but there are many different ways to ghost past, distract, or sneakily slaughter the enemies. It’s the best thing I’ve played on the 360 in the last year.

If Steam mean it keeps the Achievements and their names then I’m all for it. Who wouldn’t want to earn Achievements named “The Dark Project” or “No One Lives Forever”? :)

After finishing and spending some time with New Game+ I’m a little less effusive about it than I was but it’s still a very good game and certainly one of the best I’ve played in recent memory. It never quite reaches the level of “Thief in 2D” that it felt like it was heading toward in some of the middle levels, but it remains consistently challenging and rewarding. Certainly worth playing.

I do hope some of the minor glitches in Secondary Objectives and Achievements are fixed for the PC release. I managed to get an Achievement for killing a specific person by accidentally killing myself in the same level. Heh.

There’s been comments on other games that are sold on Steam either doing nothing but praising or bashing it and therefore being utterly devoid of any purpose. This article’s turned into a rare exception.

Very curious to see how they’ll rework the controls to m&k. The game feels pretty much perfect on the 360 gamepad (and I’m sure that’ll be an option on the PC), but if they nail the new control method that may be enough for me to replay it.

Personally I hope they rebuild the whole game into a text adventure the way it is in the game’s website.

“I’m primarily a PC person myself, and I’m not okay in any way with this feeling like a shoddy port,” said Anderson. “It’s my intention that this is a full, proper version of the game in its own right.”